Miner rejects Greens' claims

THE coal company at the centre of a big project in central Queensland has hit back at what it calls "scaremongering" by the Australian Greens.

Under the $5.3 billion proposal, Waratah Coal wants to develop a mine, pipeline, railway and port facility in the Alpha and the Shoalwater Bay areas in Queensland.

The Queensland Government has held talks on the proposal with Waratah but the Federal Government may use the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act to stop the development in the Galilee Basin going ahead.

Last week, Greens Senator Christine Milne raised concerns during question time, saying there were four billion tonnes of coal in the Galilee Basin, which could help drive climate change, and that development could also affect environmentally sensitive areas.

The federal Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong, said the Government had not yet decided whether or not to block the development.

But the chief executive of Waratah Coal, Peter Lynch, said the Greens claims were "irresponsible scaremongering".

"The proposed rail development does not run through the Byfield National Park as stated by some sections," Mr Lynch said.

"It runs through Commonwealth Defence land that's been purchased and used extensively for defence training and military manoeuvres since 1967.

"Approximately 50 per cent of the proposed rail line route is already cleared buffer zone for the defence force."

Mr Lynch said the project had been declared by the Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, in July as a State Significant Project requiring an Environmental Impact Statement.

"We acknowledge that there are environmental impacts which will need to be examined thoroughly by authorities and by the community," he said.

"That's precisely why significant projects of this type undertake comprehensive environmental impact studies required under both state and federal legislation as part of their approval process."

Mr Lynch said comments by Senator Milne were designed to undermine the Government's approvals processes and had the potential to damage the national economy. "This is more of the recent unrealistic lobbying by the Greens to pull the wool over the eyes of ordinary Australians that you can just shut down the Australian coal industry," he said.

AAP

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